Felix Auger-Aliassime is back from the Olympics a little jet-lagged, but ready to take flight on North American soil.
The second-seeded Canadian overcome a sloppy start rallying past Andreas Seppi 2-6, 6-2, 6-2 to the Citi Open round of 16 in Washington, DC. Auger-Aliassime avenged a Roland Garros opening-round loss to Seppi in his first match since falling to 198th-ranked Aussie Max Purcell at the Tokyo Olympic Games.
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Despite that Olympic defeat, the 20-year-old Canadian came away from the Games appreciative of the fact tennis offers weekly opportunities for success.
"I'm a competitor. I love to play," Auger-Aliassime said. "I talked to fellow athletes, Canadian athletes, at the Games. I think it would have been tough for me to have schedules where there's just a few tournaments or few competitions.
"I love to be out here again competing, playing in front of fans. It's great. I'm feeling good. Of course right now I just finished a match so my legs aren't so fresh. But overall mentally I think I'm fresh. This week my family's here. It's good to, yeah, be back in America, to play tournaments. I feel good both physically and mentally overall."
The 20-year-old Auger-Aliassime will play either local favorite Frances Tiafoe or wild card Jenson Brooksby for a quarterfinal spot in Washington, DC. Auger-Aliassime said he's enjoying the interaction with fans in Washington after playing without fans in Tokyo.
"It's great. Since the first day I came here, a lot of people showed up for practices, taking pictures, talking to people," Auger-Aliassime said. "It's great to see. Always as a player, to come to a tournament where you feel that people are happy to see you, it's always a great feeling. I felt that from the first day."
Photo credit: Christopher Levy